![](https://forum.embroideres.com/uploads/monthly_2024_08/cars-embroidery-desig.thumb.jpg.2e1b22094b0ae250851953cbc81b635d.jpg)
When embroidery digitizing its very important that you have some artistic knowledge, even though you may not have any artwork background you should be able to look at most designs and determine what should be in the background and what should be in the foreground. This is important as you it will give you an idea of which thread sequence to lay down first so it looks proportional.
Layers in digitizing machine embroidery designs as it is implemented in practice.
The first thing you need to do when looking at a design is determine the background and foreground sometimes this is very easy and other times it can be more challenging. On the design below you can see that there is no background but instead, there are just two separate thread sequences, one being orange and one being black on this design it really doesn't matter the sequence it generally will sew well either way.
The design below has a few different layers, it should be pretty easy to determine what the layers are.
Generally, I ask myself if their pieces I will need to hide traveling stitches, so I do not have to trim and if will it impact the sewing ability of the design. I would normally sew the design from the center out I would start with the maroon color first.
Notice the traveling stitch this will be covered up by the seecond layer. It prevents me from adding a trim to the design. The black layer will go down next.
Now you should not see that traveling line as the black fill has covered the evidence, when ever possible you will need to hide your stitches in the design by layers in front.
The borders can be made on the same level as the text but I have separated them here to show you the different parts. Make sure the satin border is large enough to cover the stitches I recommend perpendicular underlay on borders and absolute compensations at .01 inch. The final design is below.
Real examples of how this is implemented by professional digitizers can be seen on real finished works in Cars embroidery designs. These are the most complex embroidery designs, where multi-layered designs are often used to emphasize shadows, curves of body parts, and glare on the windshield. All this requires the use of colors of transition effects from one embroidery thread to another. To create one shadow composition, a minimum of 2-3 layers are required (density from 1.5-1.8)
Layers in a complex embroidery design
![Tractor embroidery design layer 1](https://forum.embroideres.com/uploads/monthly_2024_08/Tractor_embroidery_design_layer1.jpg.3c56b9c735c3370f91f8d3288d22e71e.jpg)
![Tractor embroidery design layer 2](https://forum.embroideres.com/uploads/monthly_2024_08/Tractor_embroidery_design_layer2.jpg.862e5c8243583d035b57564ea3d4bb71.jpg)
![Tractor embroidery design layer 3](https://forum.embroideres.com/uploads/monthly_2024_08/Tractor_embroidery_design_layer3.jpg.0f228bc51bfcb656066886fb354b77ee.jpg)
![Tractor embroidery design layer 6.jpg](https://forum.embroideres.com/uploads/monthly_2024_08/Tractor_embroidery_design_layer6.jpg.05f0cf80fb46505e13e9530406ebbe29.jpg)
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